News Archive

"Effective January 1, 2026, Connecticut's paid sick leave law will apply to employers with 11 or more employees, lowering the threshold from 25 employees in 2025. Then, starting January 1, 2027, the law will cover almost all remaining employers with at least one employee."  MORE >>

"The PSDA Revised Guidelines both add new obligations and provide additional guidance to employers that provide paid sick leave to employees in the City. The Revised Guidelines will take effect on January 1, 2026 (when both the accrual rate and the amount of paid sick leave available under the PSDA will increase)."  MORE >>

"[Minnesota's] highly anticipated Paid Family Medical Leave fully launches on Jan. 1, with applications already live for those who welcomed a child in 2025.The program offers up to 12 weeks for both medical and family leave -- with a total limit of 20 weeks a year. Over 5,000 Minnesotans have already submitted applications for leave to bond with children welcomed in 2025 after applications opened in December, according to Gov. Tim Walz's office."  MORE >>

"This extension provides continued penalty relief for noncompliance with federal tax withholding and reporting requirements for state-paid medical leave benefits attributable to employer contributions through the end of 2026. Employers must still treat 'pick-up' contributions as wages for federal employment tax purposes and report them on Form W-2 for 2026."  MORE >>

"Under these rules, medical leave benefits paid by a state to employees -- when funded by employer contributions -- are considered taxable income and wages for federal employment tax purposes. [IRS Notice 2026-6 provides that], for 2026, states and employers are not required to follow the usual income tax withholding and reporting requirements for these payments and will not face penalties for noncompliance."  MORE >>

"FAMLI will provide up to an additional twelve weeks of leave for individuals taking care of an infant in NICU. Employers may require an employee to apply for or exhaust FAMLI as a requisite to accessing employer provided benefits pursuant to the employer's applicable policy but not as a prerequisite to accessing any types of leave that an employer is required to provide or that the individual may be eligible to apply for by law."  MORE >>

"New York City employers will continue to be required to provide leave for employees who are absent due to illness, preventative medical care, to provide care for a family member, and certain workplace closures resulting from public health emergencies. In addition, employees are entitled to 'safe time' for absences related to domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking."  MORE >>

"The changes set to take effect on January 1, 2026 once again increase the employee benefit and contribution caps established by the PFL program.... PFL benefits are separate and distinct from those provided by the New York State Paid Sick Leave (PSL) law, under which accrued benefits vary on the basis of employer size. "  MORE >>

"Prior to February 2026, New York City employers should: [1] Update policies, notices, and human resources and accounting systems to reflect two distinct sick and safe leave entitlements: [a] Existing ESSTA paid sick and safe time. [b] A new 32-hour unpaid sick and safe bank available at hire and each January 1 thereafter. [2] Offer training to handle expanded qualifying reasons for sick and safe time and to respond 'as soon as practicable' to TSCA schedule-change requests, recognizing that employees need not accept alternatives."  MORE >>

"Starting January 1, 2026, the state is expanding its FAMLI program to support employees facing one of the most stressful early experiences of parenthood: a newborn's stay in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Employees may qualify for a separate category of paid leave for NICU stays, allowing parents to spend essential time with their hospitalized newborn while preserving their full bonding leave once the child is home."  MORE >>

"Group health plan (GHP) sponsors are subject to many state reporting requirements, which essentially fall into three categories: individual health coverage mandate reporting, health plan covered-lives assessment (CLA)/surcharge reporting and other health plan-related reporting.... ERISA arguably preempts some, but not all, state reporting requirements for GHP sponsors, but there are no current legal challenges to these mandates."  MORE >>

"Minneapolis and Saint Paul recently amended their Earned Sick and Safe Time ordinances to align more closely with Minnesota's statewide law. Employees are covered under the city ordinances if they are expected to work at least 80 hours in a year within the respective city's limits."  MORE >>

"[The amended regulations] take effect on December 11, 2025 ... [and] will significantly impact many employers set to comply with the new program on January 1, 2026.... [T]he amended regulations [1] alter the definition of the 'application year,' which is used to determine benefit entitlement.... [2] modify the definition of 'employee.' ... [3] address the contributions that can be deducted from employee pay in certain circumstances.... [4] provide guidance for self-insured employers, particularly regarding requirements for claim reserve accounts, and modify information collected by the state."  MORE >>

"California has once again expanded employee leave protections and benefits ... through  ... Assembly Bill 406 and Senate Bill 590. Together, these new laws broaden employee rights to protected time off, create new obligations for employers, and increase the administrative burden of tracking, approving, and documenting leaves of absence. Employers should carefully review and update their leave policies, manager training, and HR practices to ensure full compliance."  MORE >>

"AB 260, effective September 26, 2025, requires California regulated health plans with prescription drug benefits to cover mifepristone even when [FDA] labeling or federal risk evaluation strategies would otherwise limit its use.... AB 144 requires California regulated health plans to cover preventive services without cost-sharing or prior authorization ... as [federal] recommendations existed on January 1, 2025.... California is 'locking in' the federal and professional standards that were in place on that date, regardless of any future changes or litigation at the federal level.... SB 41, effective January 1, 2026 ... bans spread pricing and requires PBMs to use pass-through pricing models so plans pay pharmacies what PBMs reimburse them, plus a transparent administrative fee."  MORE >>

"Minnesota's paid leave program goes into effect January 1, 2026 ... Employers who have not yet done so should: [1] Provide notice to employees. [2] Consider whether to adopt an equivalent plan. [3] Review their other policies to ensure alignment with the new state program."  MORE >>

"Beginning on January 1, 2026, Minnesota's new Paid Leave Law (PLL) will require nearly all employers to provide up to 20 weeks of paid family and medical leave through a new statewide program. The change introduces new payroll contributions, compliance obligations, and employee protections.... The law applies to employers with one employee working in Minnesota, regardless of the size."  MORE >>

"The state of Colorado ... has placed a price limit on the prescription drug Embrel from Immunex Corp. ... The Colorado Consumer Health Initiative estimates that the price cap could save consumers $32 million in drug spending. About 60% of the 2,500 individuals in Colorado who take Enbrel have private insurance. Before the price cap, patients paid about $4,000 of the annual $58,000 cost of the drug. Now, the price of Embrel is capped at about $31,000 per year, and patients have a payment of about $600."  MORE >>

"The new law [1] prohibits the practice of 'spread pricing,' in which a PBM charges the plan a price for prescription drugs that differs from the amount the PBM pays to the pharmacy filling the prescription.... [2] provides that PBMs have a fiduciary duty to both self-insured employer plan, and health insurance carrier clients ... [3] provides a mechanism for a plan sponsor to obtain quarterly disclosures of rebates and fees received from drug manufacturers, fees and assessments charged to network pharmacies, and payments made to pharmacies, as well as de-identified utilization information for the plan."  MORE >>

"The law ... will take effect in 120 days on Sunday, February 22, 2026... Employees must generally use their paid safe and sick time first before using time from this new unpaid bank.... Unlike the requirements for paid safe and sick time, employers are not required to carry over any unused time from this bank to the next year.... Employees may use safe and sick time for new reasons."  MORE >>

"New York City offers one of the strongest safe and sick leave benefits in the country.... On October 25, 2025, the New York City Council once again amended the ESSTA, primarily to: [1] increase the amount of leave and qualifying reasons under the ESSTA; and [2] narrow employer obligations under New York City's Temporary Schedule Change Law (TSCL) in response to the ESSTA's expanded coverage. These amendments go into effect on February 22, 2026, and significantly alter employers' obligations under both laws."  MORE >>

"Currently, New York City employers must provide up to 40 or 56 hours of paid safe and sick leave under ESSTA, depending on the employer's size and income.... Now, all employers, regardless of size, must provide all employees with a separate bank of 32 hours of unpaid safe and sick leave. (Yes, this is in addition to the 40 or 56 hours of paid safe and sick leave and the 20 hours of prenatal leave already required!) ... [E]mployees are now entitled to three different banks of leave, which must be kept -- and tracked -- separately:"  MORE >>

"Starting no later than January 3, 2028, the FAMLI program will provide most Maryland employees up to twelve weeks of paid leave for certain family and medical reasons, with a possible additional twelve weeks for parental bonding, per benefit year.... The proposed Claims chapter offers additional key definitions, recognizes qualifying events, identifies required documentation, sets deadlines, calculates duration and amounts of benefits, mandates notices to employees and employers, coordinates FAMLI with other benefits, and addresses overpayments and fraud (albeit briefly)."  MORE >>

"Over 17 million non-elderly Californians (55%) received health benefits through an employer in 2023.... The average annual single coverage premium in California is $10,033, higher than the national average of $9,325. The average annual family premium in California is $28,397, higher than the national average of $26,993.... On average, covered workers in California contribute 14% of the premium for single coverage and 27% for family coverage in 2025.  ... A lower share of covered workers in California face a general annual deductible for single coverage than covered workers nationally (75% vs. 88%), and the average deductible is lower ($1,620 vs. $1,886). "  MORE >>

"The amended law introduces several key changes. First, New York City employers must provide employees with 32 hours of unpaid safe/sick leave, replacing the two days that were previously available under the Temporary Schedule Change Act (TSCA). The law also expands the uses of leave under ESSTA, codifies the state's paid prenatal leave entitlement, and clarifies how collective bargaining agreements can waive certain ESSTA obligations."  MORE >>